Town & Country

C M Y K WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY MARCH 21, 2020 5 ROSENORT PENDULUM CLOCK SERVICE CLAIR WEAVER 601 Harmony Lane Winkler, Mb 204-331-5442 REGISTER NOW P L AY B A S E B A L L T H I S S P R I N G O N L I N E R E G I S T R AT I O N N O W AVA I L A B L E C O N TA C T Y O U R L O C A L B A S E B A L L O R G A N I Z AT I O N B A S E B A L L M A N I T O B A . C A @BASEBALLMB @BASEBALLMB @BASEBALLMANITOBA @BASEBALLMANITOBA Morden Home Hardware Building Centre 183 Loren Dr. Morden MB Ph. 204-822-3550 homehardware.ca Visit us at louisemb.com Proud of our history on the prairies. The old and the new. The sky s t he limit in ' 204-873-2591 Clearwater • Crystal City • Pilot Mound On the surface, Rosenort might seem like an unlikely hub of international trade and commerce. W ith a population of slightly more than 3,000 people, it is often defined by its beautiful gardens, finely tended farms and strong sense of faith. But it would be selling the community short if you didn't acknowledge its bur- geoning industrial sector. The Rosenort Industrial Park, which was already home to several major manufacturers, has welcomed a number of new businesses over the past few years and is set to expand by 80 acres during the next year and a half. Perhaps no business embodies the com- munity's can-do entrepreneurial spirit better than K-Tec Earthmovers Inc. Established in 2000 by Ken Rempel, it has grown from a single employee to a payroll of more than 130 people, with customers in the U.S., Australia, Japan, Poland, Denmark, Argen- tina and the United Kingdom. "Rosenort has definitely been growing as far as our manufacturing presence. There's a lot of great new manufacturers that are coming here," says Shane Kroeker, K-Tec's vice-president of marketing. "There's lots of jobs and lots of activity going on in this area right now." It's said necessity is the mother of inven- tion. It was also a source of inspiration for K-Tec's founder. Rempel owned a construc- tion company and was unhappy with the earthmoving machines he was using, which tended to break down in Manitoba's sticky, gumbo-like clay. He got so fed-up he decid- ed to create his own earthmover — one that could handle conditions specific to the Red River Valley. Farmers and other users were so impressed with his machine that Rempel decided to turn it into a full-time business a short time later. As you might expect, the company hit some bumps along the way, including a recession in 2012 that resulted in an economic slowdown for many industries. Ironically, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise for K-Tec. "Once the recession was over, people were looking for the most efficient solution out there for moving earth and that was kind of how we captured the market," Kroeker says. K-Tec's bread and butter is its line of scrapers. It manufactures two different styles of scraper: one pulled by tractor and another pulled by articulated dump truck, a design pioneered by K-Tec. The company has also recently branched out into other types of earth-moving products including land level- ers, used primarily for grading haul roads. Kroeker at- tributes the com- pany's success to two main factors: Its reputation for developing in- novative products and the fact its machines offer more capacity than competitors' products. K-Tec's machines are used for everything from constructing roads to building indus- trial foundations. Some of the more high- profile projects those machines have been used in include warehouses for companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon. They also played an essential role in a recent major expansion of Brisbane Airport in Australia and the construction of a huge solar-power collector in Japan. So, how does a company in rural Manitoba manage to attract the attention of clients all over the globe? Kroeker says that's largely due to the strong relationships K-Tec has developed with original equipment manufacturers such as Volvo Construction Equipment, Caterpillar, CNH and Trimble. "We get quite a few key leads from those partners. That was how we got our deal in Japan. The Trimble GPS people said, 'These guys are building a huge solar field and they're looking for scrapers,' " he says. K-Tec's earthmovers offer a truly made-in- Manitoba solution. Every aspect is handled at the Rosenort plant, from the design to cutting the steel, machining it, painting it and assembling it, something Kroeker says employees take great pride in. "That's the best way for us to maintain our quality standard, to make sure we see everything through from start to finish so we can put our final quality-control stamp on it before it goes out the door." While K-Tec has grown by leaps and bounds, its workplace culture has remained largely unchanged since the family-owned company's inception. The majority of employees have been with the company for a decade or more, something Kroeker attri- butes to K-Tec's willingness to offer services and supports tailored to their specific needs, including in-house chiropractic services and retirement planning seminars. "We want to make sure everyone feels part of the family here and that they'll never want to leave the organization. That's our goal here because with good people we can continue our strong growth." BY JIM TIMLICK Groundbreaking Machinery K-T E C P R O D U C T S A R E T O P S I N E A R T H - M OV I N G F I E L D PHOTOS BY DARCY FINLEY Quality Assurance Technician Lyle Enns at the Rosenort plant, where Manitobans handle every aspect of design and manufacture of K-Tec earthmovers. MORDEN PHOTOS BY DARCY FINLEY The Janzen family's expanded business on the east side of town addresses the demand for building supplies in the rapidly growing community. T hey say a family that works together grows together. Well, the David Janzen family, which has a unique history, has not only been working together, its hardware business has been growing by leaps and bounds as a result. "We are the true definition of a growing family business and feel we have the support of the community," Janzen said via email during a recent trip to Bolivia. After spending 17 years as missionaries for the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia, Janzen and his wife, Elizabeth, moved back to Canada and bought the business in 2015. They realized there was little economic future in Bolivia for their four sons, Conroy, now 26, Damon, 25, Regan, 22 and Micah. Although originally from La Crete, Alta., Janzen decided to buy the Home Hardware store in Morden. "My dad's brother had a Home Hardware store in La Crete, so he was familiar with it," says Damon. "He had some meetings with the Home Hardware people here and went for it." It became such a good fit that the Janzens moved out of the store on the west side of town and opened a new Home Hardware Building Centre in the Pembina Connection on the east side of town last year. Almost tripling in size, from 9,000 square feet to 26,000 square feet, the new space allowed them to address a local demand for building supplies like lumber and drywall. "We had constant requests from customers to expand into that area," says Damon, adding that the larger store now employs about 25 people. "Morden is a growing city and there was a growing demand for that stuff. It was very good timing." City Coun. Gord Maddock says there was only one lumber yard in town before the Janzens expanded their business. "They were able to add more stock and building supplies, so they have more options than before," he says. "Before that, people were running to Winkler for supplies. He's done it (expansion) very well and will be expanding garden supplies in the spring. It's a very religious family and they have been a welcome addition to the community." The Janzen family have three different homes in Morden, with two of the brothers still living with their parents. "It's a nice community and people here are great," Damon says. David Janzen also opened a Home Hardware outlet in Altona, which is being managed by Conroy and Regan. It should come as no surprise that the Janzens have been so successful in business. While in Santa Cruz, David and Elizabeth helped build a school and church to cater to those who either left or were expelled from one of the Old Mennonite colonies in the area. Those colonies have similarities to Amish settlements, where people use horses and buggies for transportation and do not allow the use of rubber tires or cellphones. The Janzens also helped train those who left those colonies for jobs other than farming. Elizabeth grew up on one of those colonies before leaving, getting an education and winding up in La Crete. The couple eventually felt they heard a calling to return to Bolivia to help those in need. NO PLACE LIKE HOME HARDWARE Family business booming along with the community BY JIM BENDER

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